Tom sawyer.

The pretentiousness of the adults is shown through out the novel. For example take the part when the minister is reading the people who are honouring him but aren't even listening to him. The adults are totally uninterested in the mass. Tom is bored stiff and needs some amuse meant in the church. He decides to take out his "pinch-bug" the beetle went floundering into the middle of the isle. The adults were meant to be paying attention to the sermon but instead the found relief in the beetle and eyed it. The satire of this is that the adults who are meant to be honest, truthful and paying attention are more interested in a beetle.

Injun Joe introduces the evil of the adult world. He murders doctor Robinson in the graveyard for revenge. There is irony in this as doctor Robinson is murdered beside the grave he just dug up. Tom and Huck witness this but they cannot tell anybody, as they are too scared. This is also another piece of irony as the boys went to the graveyard to be scared by the dead but instead the living scares them. Mark Twain use some satire here as the boys are more scared of the events that happen in the adult world rather than the dead. It also shows the truth about the village that there is dishonesty, cheating, murder and lies that take place in it. Later on in the novel we learn that Injun Joe plots to murder widow Douglas. This shows that the adults are willing to kill people over and over again to get what they want.

Tom and Huck represent boyhood they are innocent and free. This is shown throughout the novel as all they do is play and enjoy themselves. Later on in the novel the boys escape to Jackson Island and this symbolises freedom. They escape to the island as they fear Injun Joe will kill them. On the island the boys are just having fun and this shows the innocence of the boys, they just want to be free of the adult world. The word "strip" is a symbolic metaphor and shows that Tom is getting rid of the adult world. The treasure that the boys have to themselves is their imagination. They can use this imagination to do anything they want. It is one of the most amazing things to have.

In the middle of the novel Tom stands up and tells the truth of the murder and confronts Injun Joe in the courtroom. That was the righteous thing to do and only a child would do this and not think of the consequences. If this was an adult he would keep his mouth shut and let Muff Potter take the blame. This shows the difference between the mind of an adult and the mind of a child. There is another good example of this when the kids stand up for themselves in the school. The headmaster wants them to put on a show for the school and show off. The children were doing this against their will and decide to get revenge on the schoolmaster and reveal that he is bald. This shows the honesty of the children and what they stand up for. Tom himself also shows a lot of righteousness when he protects and saves Becky in the caves when they are trapped.

At the end of the novel Tom becomes the hero from the scamp he was at the start of the novel and Huck goes on his way so he doesn't have to be restrained from having all his freedom.

It is sad in the end though as the boys will have to grow up someday, they cannot always be free of the troubles in the adult life. One day they will have to face them and that is a disaster waiting to happen. The boys may be able to retain some of their imagination but it will never be as vivid as a child's. Huck even has to leave the town in the end to retain his freeway of life.